Presents a 25-minute in-class exercise designed to open students' minds to more subtle insights into the pervasive social processes that keep women out of many occupations and restrict their earnings. Provides a copy of the required handout and suggests follow-up discussion topics. (JDH)

The female students taking women's studies courses today are different from those in the early 1970s. Many are unconsciously male-identified--fully buying into predominant male viewpoints--and thus fail to recognize the connections which exist between the general conditions restricting the opportunities and welfare of women and their own…

Describes an in-class activity which demonstrates how sexual status is inferred based on observable gender-role characteristics. This shows the way in which our culture, and not biology, shapes gender roles and their meanings. Provides background on the course and the interactionist theoretical perspective used to analyze this sociological…